EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS-ASSOCIATED TYPICAL GASTRIC-CARCINOMA DETECTED BY IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION AND POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a human B lymphotropic herpes virus, is strongly associated with a variety of lymphoproliferative disorders, most notably nasopharyngeal carcionoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, and Hodgkin's disease (1-3). Two studies have demonstrated the presence of EBV DNA in four undifferentiated stomach carcinomas of the nasopharyngeal type detected by polymerase chain reaction (4) and in situ hybridization (5); but a relationship between EBV infection and typical gastric cancer has rarely been reported. Here, we describe a case of typical gastric adenocarcinoma with multiple lymph node metastases. We used in situ hybridization with oligonucleotide probes to detect EBV-encoded RNAs (EBERs) expression and polymerase chain reaction to detect the presence of EBV genome in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections.